Wanted to share the beginning stages of the fish room build. Hopefully I can get some input, criticism and suggestions. Keep in mind its a work in progress so there's a lot of cleaning to do still.
To start, the 340 was picked up and needed a lot of cleaning. The tank demensions are 72" x 36" x 30, with a center overflow and black back. The tank had been drilled on the bottom, possibly for a closed loop system.
Next was cleaning off all the algae and polishing out major scratches.
I used the Lifeguard acrylic scratch removal kit. It was tedious work and I wouldn't want to do it again, but it did remove the scratches.
Finally got started on getting some paint on the walls. I've decided to use the third car garage as the fish room.
I didn't get any pics of actually measuring and cutting all the tile but I ended up rented a tile saw and got every piece to fit super snug. It took way longer than I though it would. As you can see I plugged the two holes with bulk heads and had to get creative when cutting the tile to fit around it. I thought it was going to bug me but after laying everything down it didn't look too bad. My main concern was that fish poop and food would get stuck in the cut out. So far with the flow in the tank, I've had no problems.
I don't have pics of moving the tank in or building the stand but to give you an idea....
I used 2x4's and used the template I found here on one of the sticky's. I made the stand 36" tall and the tank sits perfect.
Next up is the drip system...
I used a brass T and connected to the garage sink. Ran nylon line from the T to the chlorine/chloramine filter I got from thefilterguys. Initially ordered it with a 40 gallon per day restrictor, but quickly found out it wouldn't do the job so I replaced it with a 100 gallon a day restrictor. I'll try to get a pic of the water flow from the line and post it later.
As the water drips into the main tank, water goes into the overflow, down to the sump, through a filter sock and through the media in the sump. The sump is a 100 gallon breeder. dems are 60"x24"x16. I'm using seachem matrix for bio media, so far so good. Keep in mind this was a tank upgrade from a 225 gallon, which had been running for about a year so the media had been seeded. During the move i just kept the media in it's water until I was ready to move it. I did not use any water from the old tank. I had a small, small mini cycle that lasted less than a day. So far its been up for 3 weeks and the water consistently tests, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 15-20 ppm nitrate. I think due to my water source already testing 10 ppm of nitrate.
Just like the display tank, this sump tank had also been previously drilled on the bottom. I decided to use this to my advantage and turn it into the drain. All I did was install a bulkhead and add a 1" pvc pipe...later adjusting the height. All excess water would enter this pvc pipe and drain out. I plumbed the drain directly to the drain located just outside of the garage. i had to drill a whole to get the pipe through. As you can see it's still unpainted and plumbing still needs to be cleaned up.
More pics to come.....
Currently setting up a 240 grow out tank next to the 340 and just moved in two couches.
To start, the 340 was picked up and needed a lot of cleaning. The tank demensions are 72" x 36" x 30, with a center overflow and black back. The tank had been drilled on the bottom, possibly for a closed loop system.
Next was cleaning off all the algae and polishing out major scratches.
I used the Lifeguard acrylic scratch removal kit. It was tedious work and I wouldn't want to do it again, but it did remove the scratches.
Finally got started on getting some paint on the walls. I've decided to use the third car garage as the fish room.
I didn't get any pics of actually measuring and cutting all the tile but I ended up rented a tile saw and got every piece to fit super snug. It took way longer than I though it would. As you can see I plugged the two holes with bulk heads and had to get creative when cutting the tile to fit around it. I thought it was going to bug me but after laying everything down it didn't look too bad. My main concern was that fish poop and food would get stuck in the cut out. So far with the flow in the tank, I've had no problems.
I don't have pics of moving the tank in or building the stand but to give you an idea....
I used 2x4's and used the template I found here on one of the sticky's. I made the stand 36" tall and the tank sits perfect.
Next up is the drip system...
I used a brass T and connected to the garage sink. Ran nylon line from the T to the chlorine/chloramine filter I got from thefilterguys. Initially ordered it with a 40 gallon per day restrictor, but quickly found out it wouldn't do the job so I replaced it with a 100 gallon a day restrictor. I'll try to get a pic of the water flow from the line and post it later.
As the water drips into the main tank, water goes into the overflow, down to the sump, through a filter sock and through the media in the sump. The sump is a 100 gallon breeder. dems are 60"x24"x16. I'm using seachem matrix for bio media, so far so good. Keep in mind this was a tank upgrade from a 225 gallon, which had been running for about a year so the media had been seeded. During the move i just kept the media in it's water until I was ready to move it. I did not use any water from the old tank. I had a small, small mini cycle that lasted less than a day. So far its been up for 3 weeks and the water consistently tests, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 15-20 ppm nitrate. I think due to my water source already testing 10 ppm of nitrate.
Just like the display tank, this sump tank had also been previously drilled on the bottom. I decided to use this to my advantage and turn it into the drain. All I did was install a bulkhead and add a 1" pvc pipe...later adjusting the height. All excess water would enter this pvc pipe and drain out. I plumbed the drain directly to the drain located just outside of the garage. i had to drill a whole to get the pipe through. As you can see it's still unpainted and plumbing still needs to be cleaned up.
More pics to come.....
Currently setting up a 240 grow out tank next to the 340 and just moved in two couches.
